News and Posts
The Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media is proud to host original article series, reports from faculty and researchers, and events promoting collaboration among researchers, journalists and universities. Browse our library of articles, videos, interviews, announcements, upcoming events and more.
Student innovation showcased on Pitch Day
A couple months ago, we ran a story about a course in entrepreneurship and innovation taught in the Reese Innovation Lab here at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. The course, “MEJO 463: Creating Tomorrow’s Products,” concluded last week when…
Reese Innovation Lab plays matchmaker for journalists and students
When Ryan Thornburg was approached by WUNC’s Fletcher Fellow Liz Schlemmer for help on interactive graphics, he knew exactly how to help. Schlemmer was working on a story about teacher retention rates in North Carolina and wanted help using data…
Podcast: Matthew Weber’s 21st century newsroom
Over the last decade, there have been significant shifts in how news is packaged, how news is consumed and how news is paid for or sold. But, how have hiring practices of newsrooms changed — if at all — in…
Family-owned Adams Publishing rises in ranks alongside large, corporate investors owning newspapers
For the past decade, the number of family-owned newspapers has drastically dropped as the business of owning print media becomes less profitable. The vast majority of newspapers are bought by large investment entities with millions, sometimes billions, of dollars in…
NC Votes launches with goal of informing voters in North Carolina through open data
NC-Votes.org launches this week with the goal of finding ways to make public election data useful to citizens and journalists who want to better understand North Carolina’s dynamic political environment. Ryan Thornburg, associate professor at the UNC Hussman School of…
Podcast: Melody Kramer reveals great potential for open data collaboration in newsrooms
Since August, Reese Innovation Lab Fellow Melody Kramer has interviewed journalists across North Carolina and compiled research for the Carolina Data Desk. Open data is a resource currently underutilized by community newsrooms because it requires time and extra resources — two things…
The Nation takes notice of newspaper ownership, highlights North Carolina success stories
The Nation magazine recently published an article by Julie Reynolds featuring Penelope Muse Abernathy’s research into newspaper ownership. The article also features North Carolina newspaper The Pilot — which just won best community newspaper for the third year in a…
Desirability, feasibility, viability: Students mimic startup accelerator to inspire love of entrepreneurship
To an outsider, “MEJO 463: Creating Tomorrow’s Products” might appear to be more at home in the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. But to anyone involved in the news and media industry, the course is exactly what juniors and seniors…
Emerging Technologies Lab manager attends ONA 2017, sees growing presence of tech in journalism
Alexis Barnes graduated in May 2017 from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media with a specialization in multimedia. She now works with the Emerging Technologies Lab. Over four days, twelve UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media students,…
Abernathy sharing business insights with Texas papers
Penelope Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism & Digital Economics, will lead a series of workshops at the Texas Center for Community Journalism at Texas Christian University this Friday, October 13, 2017. Abernathy will share insights gleaned from decades of…
Ryan Thornburg on using open data to build tools for community journalism
An industry changing as quickly as the journalism and media industry must develop new ways of doing business in order to survive. Open data may be a very significant piece of that puzzle. Ryan Thornburg, director of the Reese Innovation…
How does newspaper ownership affect coverage of hurricanes?
Recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Mexico have made this year the worst since 2005 in terms of number of storms and storm strength. In parts of eastern North Carolina, residents are sympathetic to those affected by Hurricanes Harvey…